Chapter 18: Erick

 

 

 

Out of everything I'd seen of modern life, the public library was the most amazing.

The moment I walked into the little downtown building on Cherry Lane, I was overwhelmed by the smell of books, more than I'd ever seen gathered in one place. It seemed so decadent to have so much precious knowledge at one's fingertips, ready to be plucked off of a shelf.

Most unbelievably of all, it was all free.

There was a woman sitting at her desk, so I went to her first. "Excuse me. I'm looking for Rowan Esposito. I believe she works here."

The woman looked up at me through round glasses, and I wondered if all librarians were required to have them. "She's in the back. Let me call her for you," she said. Then, to my astonishment, she turned her head to the side and barked, "Rowan!"

Rowan came out of a back room, looking slightly disheveled. Some hair came loose from her ponytail to curl against her cheek, and her glasses were sliding down her face. After wiping her hands on the seat of her jeans, she pushed them back up to the top of her nose and grinned.

"Repairing books is hard work. What's up, Erick?" she said.

I drew in a breath. "I want you to send me back to the Wood today."

Rowan's gaze shifted sideways towards the other librarian, who was still observing us with mild interest.

"Let's go talk about this outside," she said, grabbing my arm.

A minute later, we were stepping out into the library's cement and brick courtyard. Everything was damp from the morning's drizzle, including the stone picnic table on which we sat.

"You said you might have found a spell," I said.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready, Erick," Rowan began. She held a yellow, heart-shaped leaf by its stem and twirled it between her fingers. "It's advanced magic. I can't guarantee that nothing will go wrong."

"Can't you just send me back the same way you summoned me?" I said.

Rowan shook her head. "That time was a complete accident. I was about to do another spell, but I improvised at the last minute to save my friends. I would have to recreate those exact conditions to even get close—"

"I can't stay here another day," I blurted out.

Rowan's jaw clicked shut in shock.

"I can't," I repeated. "The sooner I leave, the better."

Rowan twirled the leaf right out of her fingers. Both of us watched it flutter back down to the wet cement, where it remained stuck for the duration of our talk.

"You haven't told Aiden you guys are fated mates, have you?" she said.

"No. If I did, it would make things more complicated," I said. I didn't mention the fact that I was more and more tempted to admit the truth the more I got to know Aiden.

Luckily, I didn't have to. Rowan seemed to understand on her own.

"Did you at least say goodbye?" she said.

Technically...

"Yes," I said.

It wasn't a lie. Had I said the word goodbye to Aiden? Of course I had. But I'd left Aiden under the assumption that he was going to see me again, even though I planned for just the opposite.

After last night, there was no telling what would happen between us the next time we were alone.

My mind wandered back to Aiden's enraptured face in the shower. The rise and fall of his body breathing serenely in my arms as he slept. His scent.

Then, I forced myself to think of the pain of losing Sigurd, the only man I'd ever let into my heart. Never again, I'd vowed, all those centuries ago.

Aiden would be hurt, and that hurt me…but it still wasn't the same as heartbreak. That was a type of pain I never wanted to feel again.

I drew myself up until my spine was straight and high. "I'm ready. There's nothing left for me here," I said confidently.

A furrow of determination appeared between Rowan's eyebrows as she turned to face me. "I guess I could try," she said, reaching back to tighten her ponytail. "I get off in an hour. You can come home with me afterwards, and we can do it then. Sound good?"

Her answer satisfied me. "Yes. What shall I do in the meantime?"

Rowan gestured grandly at the building behind her. "Our collection has over a hundred thousand books. I'm sure you'll find something to keep you occupied."

 

* * *

 

After she finished her shift, Rowan came to find me in the reading room, where I sat absorbed in a book filled with glossy images of outer space.

"Time to go," she whispered. She was wearing her denim jacket, her purse strap slung over her left shoulder.

I left the book on the table, open to a full-page photo of the blue sphere of Neptune, and followed Rowan out to her car. She explained the spell to me during the drive to her apartment.

"I need a candle, a silver knife, and shifter blood—which you'll be providing, by the way. We'll have to play the rest by ear."

"Play by ear?" I echoed, imagining a disembodied human ear.

"We'll have to improvise," Rowan amended. "Last time, I performed the spell at midnight, on the night of the solstice." She shrugged as she steered.

"I see," I said, feeling a prickle of uncertainty for the first time. Can Rowan be trusted to perform this spell?

My confidence waned even further an hour later when we ventured into the woods behind her apartment. Rowan carried her supplies in a knapsack while I carried a rolled-up blanket. We hiked at least three miles into the wilderness until she finally settled on a spot.

I spread the blanket on the damp earth, and Rowan upended her knapsack over it, dumping out its contents. A tiny metal bowl, a knife, pouches of various sizes, and three tiny spoons tumbled out over the soft, blue fleece of the blanket.

"Will this work?" I asked uneasily as she knelt to sort through her things.

"I think so. It takes a huge amount of energy to open a portal, and I'm hoping your dragon blood will give us the extra oomph we need," she said.

My doubt must've been showing on my face, because Rowan glanced up at me and made an annoyed sound with her tongue.

"It helps if both of us believe in what we're trying to do. Half of a successful spell comes from intent," she said.

"Fine," I said, and I willed away the lines of worry I could feel etching into my face.

After she arranged her supplies, she sat down on the blanket with her legs folded and patted the spot beside her. I sat, ignoring the tightening sense of apprehension in my stomach, and allowed her to make a cut in my arm. She collected my blood in a glass vial, shoved a lit candle into my hands, and began to fill the metal bowl with a seemingly random array of leaves and twigs.

Nothing was happening.

I tilted my head back to look at the sky. It was overcast, but no more than it was every other day.

"What is the intention of this spell?" I asked as I continued to hold the dripping, fat candle.

Rowan struck a match and dropped it into the bowl. Immediately, a green flame sprang to life.

"We're just summoning energy. I can't risk causing another huge storm like last time," she explained. She picked up my vial of blood and tipped several drops into the green flame. "Hopefully, your blood will amplify the spell, and it'll be enough to—"

Thunder rolled in the distance.

Rowan and I looked at each other at the same time. I could see my own face reflected back to me in double, looking pale and bewildered.

"Was that—" I began.

Rowan dropped some more blood into the bowl, and thunder rumbled once again. This time, it was accompanied by a soft gust of wind.

"I think it's working," Rowan said, smiling gleefully. "Take that candle and stand over there!"

She emptied the vial, shaking the last few drops of my blood into the bowl.

I stood up and walked in the direction she pointed, to a little clearing inside a copse of spruce trees. The wind gusted more persistently with each passing second. I shielded the candle's flame with my hand.

It suddenly got darker, as if the earth had spun forward half a day. Eyes closed, Rowan rose to her feet, arms stretched to the sky. Her lips were moving, but her voice was lost to the wind.

Intention, I told myself. I closed my eyes, too, and I tried to think of the Wood.

Thunder rumbled once again, sounding much closer this time. Aiden's face swam up to the surface of my mind.

I gritted my teeth and forced it back into the shadows.

Intention, I repeated to myself. The Wood. The Wood is my intention…

Suddenly, the flame on the candle leapt up to scorch my hand. Instinctively, I dropped it, clutching my hand as if I were bitten. The candle rolled away from me.

At the same exact moment, Rowan shrieked.

I looked up, catching a glimpse of Rowan with her arm outstretched, finger pointing to something in the sky. I tried to turn to look, but the world went suddenly white. Then, a single sound filled my ears.

CRACK!

I sensed myself dropping down to my knees, and that was the last thing I remembered.